Code: Reach
by Raiden Tachibana
Summary: At the end of the finale battle to retake Reach from the Covenant, Odd Della Robbia stayed behind so Aelita, Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie could get away. but before he said good-bye, he told Aelita he loved her. The gang is looking for him to bring him home.
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer: Noble Scotsman and I do not own Code Lyoko or Halo, but we do own this story.**_

_**Information: In this story there are many things that will not make sence, so I will give you a heads up. The gang is Spartans from Halo, but they are not regular Spartans at all. Odd and Aelita fell into the digital sea before becoming Spartans, so their Lyoko forms and their Earth forms are mixed together. Odd has a tail, cat like mobility, cat like hearing, and some fur under the armor. Aelita has her wings, and her elfish features. Kadic academy is on Reach. Half the planet belongs to the UNSC, the other half to the Elites.**_

_**Code: Reach**_

_**Prologue**_

-Aelita's dream-

The Elite was about to stab Aelita while she was on the ground. Out of nowhere, Odd had grabbed the Elite's arm before he stabbed Aelita. Odd had twisted the Elite's arm so fast, the Elite had no time to recover from the surprise as Odd stabbed the Elite in the head with the Elite's T1 EW/S Energy Sword. Odd quickly picked up Aelita and carried her the Jeremie's Pelican.

"Aelita, you have to go, I'll man the MAC-cannon. I just want you to know… I love you, Aelita."

Odd pushed Aelita into the Pelican before she could protest.

"Jeremie, get this bird out of here!"

Jeremie started to takeoff when Aelita tried to jump off to get to Odd, but Ulrich and Yumi held her back.

"Guys, if you can hear me, it's been an honor severing with you all. I just hope you make it out of here."

At that moment, Odd fired the MAC-cannon at the covenant cruiser before it killed Aelita, Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie. Jeremie couldn't turn the Pelican around because the cruiser would flatten them, so they left without Odd.

"Don't worry Aelita, Odd is a fighter, if anyone of us can make-it through that until their found, he can."

Aelita looked at Ulrich like he was mad.

"Do you even know what he told me before he pushed me on this bird?"

Aelita started to lose her temper. The others were surprised Aelita snapped at them like that.

"He told me he loved me! I always thought he thought I was just a friend! I have always loved him since the time I first met him! But now I can't tell him that I love him!"

Aelita burst out into tears, the others felt like they just got hit by the cruiser Odd shot.

-end dream-

"Aelita! Wake up!"

Aelita woke up to see Jeremie starring at her.

"I'm up, I'm up."

"Aelita, you had the dream about the last time we saw Odd, didn't you?"

Ulrich was at the door waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, I did. I really miss him." Aelita said as she starred at the grounds of Kadic academy. The sun was rising, and she would be teaching the students Gym today. Aelita sighed. Before they were taken by ONI to become SPARTANs, she remembered the adventures the gang would go on in their time at Kadic, saving the world from XANA and all. But that was in the past.

Aelita is now 18, and the war with the covenant had been ended by Master Chief and the Arbiter almost a year ago. The UNSC was playing cleanup in the universe by eradicating all those still loyal to the Prophets, ONI had been disbanded by the government of twelve worlds for their crimes, including; "abduction of children, creators of murderers, and corruptors of governments." Naturally, the SPARTAN I, II, and III programs had been disbanded, and the SPARTANs freed from their oaths of service to humanity. Odd hadn't been able to have that honor…

The campaign to retake Reach had been a short one, and an agreement had been made that one half the Planet go to the former covenant lead by Elites, and the other go to the humans. Odd had not been seen after the last battle, but rumors had made their way over the past year about a Lone Wolf fighting to free the planet, and restore the colony. Witnesses said it was a warrior in purple armor, with gold highlights. The description of the warrior's armor came back as with the Helmet being the Grenadier Helmet with a Silver Visor, both Shoulder pads as ODST, the chest was the Tactical/Patrol, the wrist was the UA/Bracer, Utility was the Tactical/Hard Case, and the Knee Guards were the FJ/Para, the bloom of his SRS99 Sniper Rifle, a light in the gloom, a shot in the dark. But what Aelita found interesting was the fact that witnesses also said he had a tail like a cat.

Aelita knew what the odds were that Odd had survived this long, but Odd was the only SPARTAN with a tail. Aelita knew how he got it too, Odd and her fell into the digital sea before they shut-down the super computer. Their bodies had been mix with their Lyoko forms. But now is not the time for that story.

Aelita had kept her armor after her freedom, as well as Yumi and the rest, but she hadn't worn it for almost a year. She had told herself that if a body hadn't been found after one year of searching, she would set out at the first chance she found to look for him.

Aelita sighed and turned around. "What?"

"It's a UNSC Pelican. It went down on the former covenant side of the planet, and it was carrying heavy weapons for new UNSC Marines. A SPARTAN was flying it, and he too has been declared MIA. The crash site has been scoured by both human and former covenant recovery teams, working in unison, but there were no causalities."

Jeremie looked at the others, then back at Aelita. "No bodies were found, but a SPARTAN is missing. Also, a M41SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launcher with plenty of ammo and a few Sniper Mags. were reported missing, but the recovery teams claim they took them for themselves."

Aelita's mind rushed. Sniper Mags., Odd's weapon of choice. A missing Rocket Launcher, he had always wanted one. A missing SPARTAN, probably rescued from the wreck by _someone…_

"Jeremie, can you get me those co-ordinates?"

"You've got it Princess."

"Ulrich, can you work on getting Jim to lend us some of the weapons from the town armory?"

"No problem."

"Yumi, make us some breakfast please?"

"Aww…. What?"

Aelita looked out towards the mountains behind the city. "We're coming for you, Odd…"


	2. Prison Break and a new Friend

Odd looked up from where he had been leaning against the wall as the door opened and stuffed something inside his armor. It was one of his jailers; the filthy brutes, and he meant filthy in every which way: _every_. If they knew he had kept a picture of his squad, they would make him watch it burn just to spite him.

Odd had been in the Covenant prison for over a year now, and had exhausted every trick in the book trying to escape; and all the tricks not in the book. The brutes had left him his armor, but his weapons lay on the table next to the door. So tantalizingly close, yet so far… If only he could get his hands on his suppressed SMG then he might be able to both escape and blow the lock off… Then his sniper rifle would come in handy dealing with the brutes that had caused him so much trouble…

"What do you want?" Odd asked, his Grenadier helmet eliminating all signs of weakness in his voice for him.

"Mrrphhrrh…One of your "Pelican" drop ships has been spotted on the scanner, and I've been sent to guard you in case you try to escape," the gorilla-like humanoid growled, pointing at the roof as Odd heard something fly over. "That should be it being shot down now."

"Let's see what's happening now…" the brute said, walking over to the controls and grunting before opening the ceiling. Odd's eyes widened at what he saw; 5 anti-air wraiths firing at one lone pelican. As he watched, one of the mortars clipped the left wing, and it banked sharply, firing at the only thing unprotected in the base; the lone brute grunting in satisfaction as the pelican went down.

The shots tore right through him and hit the controls to Odd's cell, making the energy shields dissipate and Odd free. He wasted no time, running over and grabbing his weapons, jumping free of the base, and sprinting towards the wraiths.

They never saw him coming.

Odd lept over the first wraith, stuffing one of the brute's spike grenades into its circuitry; and slid under another, firing continuously so as to melt the systems. Odd jumped on top of the third and spun its mortar turret around, firing at the last two and destroying them.

Odd punched the brute driver in the face with his iron-clad fist before jumping off the wraith and making off into the nearby hills. He looked up as the smoking pelican flew overhead, making one last tribute to the prisoner it had set free, before crashing up ahead. Odd sprinted to the crest of the hill and saw the pilot locked in an epic battle for control of the crash area with a whole platoon of brutes. Odd checked the ammo counter on his sniper; empty. He slung it over his back and raced towards the firefight, losing sight as he dipped beneath their view.

He sprang up from the gully where he had traveled from his hill and saw the ruins of the pelican, in three parts, and dead brute bodies.

The soldier had not gone down alone…Or had he gone down, Odd wondered. He walked over to a streak of blood leading into the bushes; and towards the base.

"Just got out of that place…" Odd muttered, shaking his head and walking over to the downed ship. He nudged the hatch with one toe; it didn't budge. Instead, he viciously slammed the flat of his boot against the hatch, denting the tough steel and blowing it open.

Odd activated the flashlight on his helmet and looked around. There were weapons and explosives everywhere he looked; this must have been the armory drop for the new city UNSC had founded on this side of the planet…

Odd grabbed mags for his sniper rifle and a backpack containing a pistol, pistol mags, and the remaining sniper mags he found. He replaced the damaged scope on his sniper, and suddenly found something he had always wanted. He grinned, and pulling it off the wall, he slipped its ammo in his bag. _Now _he was ready to free that brave soldier…Those brutes had better stand their ground, while they still have legs to stand with…

An explosion rocked the brute base. The chieftan started, looking at his guards.

"What was that?"

Another explosion rocked the base, and the golden-clad brute flipped a switch, revealing Odd in the prison cell freeing the new captive. As he watched, they escaped out through the hole Odd had made in the wall.

"Gaarrr…Get the wraiths out!" he growled menacingly.

"There's only yours left, sir, he destroyed the rest while they were shooting down that pelican."

"Send it out!"

"But si-"

The chieftan grabbed his gravity hammer and slammed it on the unfortunate brute's skull, pulverizing him.

"Get me that SPARTAN!"

"So…My name is Odd…" Odd panted, running alongside his fellow escapee, rocket launcher in tow.

"Nice to meet you. My name's-"

The remaining wraith had pulled around the corner of the base, and was in between Odd, his friend, and the hills where the pelican had crashed.

Odd stepped forward. "Follow me."

Odd dashed forward, evading the first mortar shot, and he was soon right in front of the lumbering tank. He jumped up and over, firing a rocket right into its pulsating cannon, and sprinted off. He was happy to see his new friend right behind him.

Soon after they came to where the pelican crashed, and they stopped there.

"The name's Jun," the soldier said, walking up with his hand outstretched to the panting Odd.

Odd shook it. "Odd. I was just curious from your armor style…Are you a SPARTAN as well?"

"Indeed, soldier."

Odd took off his helmet and grinned. "So where's the rest of your squad? They can help us!"

"They won't be doing that anytime soon…"

"Why not? We're SPARTANs!"

"Son…They died one year ago, right here on Reach. Noble Team lives no more…"

"Oh…I'm sorry for your loss…I heard great things about that unit and their deeds in the war… But that doesn't change that the war _needs_ us!"

Jun looked at him as he took off his helmet. "How long have you been in there, trooper?"

"About a year."

Jun cursed. "Kid, the war's over."

"Not possible. Why are the brutes still on Reach? Why didn't they let me go?"

"As far as I know, or knew, there _was _no base here; they had all been destroyed. I have no idea why this one has not been decommissioned yet."

Jun looked at Odd as the purple-clad warrior walked over to the pelican, watching the sunset.

Jun walked up to him, breaking the barrier of memories that separated them once more. "Thinking of your squad?"

Odd shook his head. "No…Well…Kind of. Aelita." And that summed it all up.

Jun put a hand on his shoulder. "You'll find her, kid. I know it."

Odd shook his head again. "I know…I just hope she doesn't come looking for me…"


	3. Starting the Search and Stories

The next morning, Jun was the first one up. Jun and Odd had found a cave that led them into an old Forerunner structure that was hidden well in the rocks. Jun looked over to see Odd still sleeping, but Jun didn't know Odd had a tail. Jun thought he saw a snake under Odd, and pulled out his knife. This woke Odd up, he saw Jun walking to Odd with his knife out, so Odd did the one thing he knew.

Odd jumped up and over Jun, just as Jun got within two feet of him. Jun spun around startled by Odd jumping, but didn't see Odd grab his hand holding the knife, and twist it till the knife fell out. Odd twisted Jun's arm behind his back, and put his other arm around Jun's neck.

"What do you think you were doing?" Odd said while Jun struggled to get out of Odd's grip.

"I saw a snake under you, I was trying to kill it."

"That wasn't a snake, that was my tail."

Jun laughed at that. "Yeah sure it was…"

"I'm not joking, how I got it is classified, but I'm lucky that my armor can hide it." Odd said as he released Jun from his death grip. Jun sat down on some rocks while Odd sat on the floor leaning on the wall. Odd pulled out the picture of his squad, and starred at it.

Aelita was the squad's leader and knew how to get things done. Odd was second in command and the teams sniper, Ulrich was close-quarters and the teams reason, Yumi was the heavy weapons, and Jeremie was the teams pilot. Their squad was called Lyoko Team.

Jun got up and walked over to Odd, and looked at the photo. "Is that your squad?"

"Yeah. The one in pink is Aelita."

"She is very pretty, considering she is a SPARTAN. You have good eyes kid." Jun said looking at Aelita in the photo.

Aelita was wearing her armor. Her armor color was pink with white high-lights. Her armor wasn't that far off from Odd's. She wore the Grenadier helmet base, her right shoulder the ODST pad, the other CQC, on her wrist was the Tactial/Tacpad, her chest was Tactical/Patrol, on her left leg was the Tactical/Trauma Kit, the Visor color was blue, and her Knee Guards were Fj/Para.

"Yeah. When we were sent on sniping missions, we were unbeatable…"

Jun looked at Odd to see that he couldn't take his eyes off the photo. "Kid, what happened that caused you to be captured?"

Odd looked at Jun, and started his story…

It took an hour to finish the story, but it caused Jun to feel bad for Odd. "That's a sad story kid…"

**Meanwhile at Kadic…**

Aelita just finished teaching Gym, it was now Spring break for the students. Aelita walked into her dorm room and opened her closet to find her SPARTAN armor. She put it on, and it felt good to be back in her old armor, remembering all the sniping missions she went on with Odd.

Aelita walked to the front gate to be greeted by Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie. They had gotten transportation, a Passenger Warthog.

"We're about to head out Princess, here your weapons." Ulrich handed Aelita a Spartan Laser and a DMR. She put the Spartan Laser on her back, and hopped in the passenger seat of the Warthog.

"Lets go find Odd. We owe it to him to find him." Aelita said to the others as Ulrich started to drive.

The gang drove in silence thinking about the good times they had with Odd, but the only thing Aelita was thinking about was how she still loves him. Aelita was worried that she may never see Odd again, but she would never give up on him. If Odd was anywhere, he would most-likely be far from the battle, but still close so he could snipe. But first, their going to the Pelican crash-site to look for clues.

It is going to be a long ride there…

**Back with Jun and Odd…**

Jun looked at Odd trying to figure-out how he got his tail. Odd saw this.

"Want to know how I got my tail?"

Jun looked at the purple-clad warrior.

"Your going to tell me?"

Odd tensed up remembering all the fights with XANA.

"Only if you swear on your fallen comrades that you wont tell anyone. Ever." Odd said. His voice shaking.

"I swear on my fallen comrades that I wont tell anyone." Jun told Odd making him calm down a little.

"I got it before ONI kid-napped me and my friends. This may sound crazy, but I swear on my squad it's true. My friends and I fought an AI named XANA inside a super computer. All XANA wanted was world domination. My Squad is the friends that fought XANA right next to me the whole time."

Jun was looking at the purple-clad warrior like he was crazy. Odd continued to talk…

"Before we shut down the super computer, we had one more mission to finish. We went in the computer, and fought to finish what we started. We launched a program that destroyed XANA, but his last monster pushed Aelita and I over the side of the sector. We fell right into the digital sea. Our friends saved us, but our digital forms were fused with our real bodies. Aelita got her angel wings, her elfish features, and the power to make small amounts of energy. I got this tail, some fur, cat-like hearing, and cat-like agility."

Jun still thought is was fake, until he thought back to Odd's tail.

"That's a sad story kid, judging by how you made me swear to my fallen comrades, I would say you are telling the truth. So I will keep your secret." Odd was looking at Jun like he just got the Medal of Honor.

Odd got up and hugged Jun. Jun was caught off-guard by this.

"Thank you, Jun." Odd let go of Jun. "Hey, Jun? What were you doing flying that Pelican anyway?"

Jun looked at Odd. "I was transporting weapons to the new city of New Paris."

Jun thought of the other members of Odd's squad. "Who were the other three in your squad kid?"

"Lyoko Three, Ulrich, Close-Quarters and the voice of reason on the team. He has EOD helmet base, his left shoulder is EVA, right is Ua/Multi-Threat, chest is Tactical/LRP, wrist is the Ua/Buckler, no utility, regular visor color, and Fj/Para knee guards. Primary armor color is Sage, secondary is Olive."

Jun looked at Odd, impressed by his memory.

"Then there was Lyoko Four, Yumi, Heavy Weapons Expert. She has the OPERATOR helmet, her left shoulder is GUNGNIR, right is EVA, chest is Ua/ODST, wrist is the Ua/Buckler, no utility, regular visor color, and Fj/Para knee guards. Primary armor color is Steel, secondary is Maroon."

Jun tried to remember his teams armor, but couldn't. so he listened to Odd again.

"Lastly, there was Lyoko Five, Jeremie, Pilot and tactics. He has the Air Assault helmet, his left shoulder is the Ua/Multi-Threat, right is the Recon, chest is the Ua/Counterassault, no wrist, no utility, regular visor color, and default knee guards. Primary armor color is Blue, secondary is Rust."

"That's a good memory you have kid."

Odd looked at Jun, then back at the photo of his squad.

"If I know them, they will stop at nothing to find me…" Odd said before he drifted back to sleep thinking if Aelita loved him as-well.


	4. Authers Note

_Noble Scotsman and I are sorry for the slow up-date of Code: Reach…_

_Both of us are very sorry, Noble Scotsman has had Writers block for a few months, so we will try to up-date as soon as possible._

_Also, PM me or Noble Scotsman about any ideas you have that we could put in the story, and we will see. Maybe even put some OC's, it just depends on what we agree on. So here is the requirements of OC's_

_Name:_

_Gender:_

_Home:_

_Birth: _

_Type of soldier, or civilian: (Ex. ODST, SPARTAN, Marine, ext.)_

_Weapons: (not for civilians unless they fight the covenant)_

_Personality:_

_Other: _

_Use this for OC's, there can be three OC's that will be in the story, so have fun, and we might put our SPARTANS in there as well._

_**Private Messages Only for OC's, ideas in the review. Thank you fans, and have a good day…**_


	5. the Hunt of Odd and Jun

Aelita touched a hand to her dirt-smeared reflection, making the water ripple and distort her appearance, making it look worse than it already was. She sighed as she cupped her hands with water from the stream and wet her face, trying to get the mud and grime off.

They had been traveling for four days already, and on the second their warthog had run out of fuel. They had carried only what was essential for the journey, but it was still too heavy to be carried the remaining distance to the downed Pelican. Jeremy had reassured them that there would be more than enough supplies in the Pelican to help get the four of them back in one piece, but that did nothing to help the fact that their food had run out the day after the warthog broke down.

Toughing it out was harder than expected, what with their forced march carrying armor and weapons across the touch terrain, and it had made the four weak, and susceptible to accidents, such as the one Aelita had just been involved with. While stopping for a break, she had taken her helmet off and immediately tripped over it, sending her sprawling down a muddy embankment, getting thoroughly dirty and cutting a shallow gash along the left side of her face. She wasn't alone, however, as the others were sharing discomfort. Ulrich had fallen off a wet ledge and fallen several feet into a pool of water; Jeremy had misplaced his comm equipment, and Yumi had had a bad fall-in with a rather territorial bat.

Despite the delays, exhaustion, and overall hunger, the incomplete squad was now camped a mere hundred feet from the downed Pelican; their original goal. Their disbelief had been evident when they had stormed the smoldering, abandoned ruins of the Covenant base, never knowing that one had been here the whole time, but their disbelief turned to grins of satisfaction as they had seen the piles of brute bodies around the base and the Pelican. A little later Ulrich had found the tracks of a pair of SPARTANs, presumably the surviving pilot and his escort, except for the scuff marks behind where the two had sat for a while betrayed the presence of a tail; _Odd's _tail. Yumi's later discovery of the surviving Brutes' tracks, hurrying away from their base in a disorganized shamble, gave the group a sense of purpose and bloodlust only found in revenge, anger, and a few species of housecats.

Standing up from where she had been pondering this while cleaning her armor, hair, and skin, Aelita grinned and shook her head to dry it, water streaming down in rivets like the unstoppable torrent of her love for Odd and the hatred for any who stand between them. They'd already been apart too long, she wouldn't tolerate anyone else postpone their reunion. She nodded to the others, who had been waiting for her, and grabbed her weapons. The disheartened had regained their purpose, the hungry sated with the food from the Covenant base, the SPARTANs returned to duty.

The search had become a hunt. For wherever the Brutes were, Odd and the downed pilot were sure to be fighting, and it wouldn't be fair to let them have all the fun.

Odd bolted upright as Jun shook him awake. The jaded sniper looked vaguely worried, as if a small inconvenience had suddenly sprung out of nowhere and given him a bad taste in the back of his mouth. The ever-present rifle was in one of his hands, and the other was holding Odd's mouth shut, to keep him from making any noise. His eyes flicked towards the entrance of their most-recent cave hideout, where Odd could hear scuffling noises and a rasping language that made even the most harsh-sounding Earthan language sound as sweet as honeyed mead.

The Brutes were here. Odd nodded to Jun, who removed his hand and shrank back into more favorable shadows, Odd not far behind.

"When did they get here?" Odd mouthed to Jun.

"Five minutes…Something about going to search cave," Jun replied, frowning.

"Any back exits in this one?"

"We looked, remember?"

"Well then I'm an idiot for letting us camp here."

Jun didn't disagree, but leveled his weapon and aimed it at the horde of Brutes massing at the entrance. Even without a scope, Odd caught sight of the chieftain who had been stationed at the Covenant base; they must have _all_ followed them out here!

The duo had trekked deep into the night for the past 4 days, putting as much distance as they could between themselves and the Brute base, but the creatures' endurance, strength, and unwavering march had soon brought them closer and closer to their prey. And now here they were, face to face and the Brutes didn't even know it…yet. Odd and Jun had reached this cave late at night yesterday, and decided it was too late and too dangerous to venture any farther over the mountains that night, so they had stopped, camping (thankfully) around the first bend in the cave, so that any light, noise, or bodies would be at least partially hidden from pursuers. A disadvantage, though, was that the entrance was East-facing, and the sun was just beginning to appear over the hills and creep its way into the cave, blinding them with its brilliance.

Odd's tail flicked in annoyance, and Jun glanced up at the sudden movement.

"What?" he hissed.

Odd shook his head, indicating he thought there was no way out too. Jun's eyes seemed to dull, as if he had expected more from Odd, and he just said, "Tonight then," before he set his gaze back on their enemies, as if his eyes were the only things keeping them from discovering their position.

Odd turned around and crouched against the wall, not risking the unnecessary noise of having his armor clank against the smooth, weathered stone. His gaze fell on the wall opposite, and he unconsciously started tracing the lines that the shadows from the stalagmites made when the sun fell on them. Then he started, and looked again, tracing each carefully with his eyes twice, just to be sure.

The shadows were actually runes, letters of the alphabet even, but not his. These letters were too delicate, ornate, and_ beautiful_. Yet for some reason, they clicked in his mind like a well-made key and his mind the intricate lock. Yet not until his eyes fell on an all-too familiar sign did he realize why he knew the glyphs. It was the sign of Xana, but then again it wasn't. Unlike the harsh, almost hatefully printed sign of Xana's upon his monsters, this one was delicate, like the rest of the script, and lovingly carved. It was the only one which was not wrought of shadow, but rather emitted its own brilliance. As soon as he understood that, he knew in his heart what the others read:

_Enter the warrior, bringth with him five; leads a thousand, lives to see them die._

_ From three, chooseth one, the only firstborn son._

_ Thus the sacrifice of the adored leaveth the worlds restored._

Before Odd had time to ponder the meaning, a shot rang out, followed by the tell-tale clink of an empty shell. One of the Brutes had crossed the threshold, trying to get around his friend to do his business in the cave away from the others, and Jun had fired. The bullet had ripped through bone and armor without differentiation, and had also felled two behind him. Their ears ringing from the sound of the shot, amplified by the cave and honed into a fine point of sound, another five of the Brutes fell to the ground clutching their bleeding ears, damaged beyond repair.

Odd grabbed his weapons and fired a quick burst into a close-knit group of Brutes, leaving them bloody and battered, running towards Odd in frenzy, too wild to even fire their weapons. They just wanted to rip him limb from limb, in the manner of their ancestors which had given them so much pleasure in doing.

They were outdated. Jun took out one, sending him sprawling backwards, and a muffled squelching sound could be heard as the bullet buried itself deep inside the chest of another far outside the cave, sending him into convulsions. Jun repeated the process another two times before they got to Odd, lining up his shots with more targets outside the cave, and each time his prey fell before both the metal and the sound like the pins before a bowling ball.

But still the two remaining Brutes charged, blood dripping from their shredded ears and completely out of their minds while ignoring the words of caution from their elders behind them.

Odd grinned as the Brutes reached him, and he ran towards them at full speed, the sound of a blade slithering from its sheath the only thing in his mind as he pulled his combat knife out and cut the tendons of the first towering Brute, catching its head as it fell and burying his knife deep inside its eye, killing it. Then, swinging the Brutes own weapon, he buried the spiked barrel deep within the already injured Brute's stomach and fired, instantly obliterating any traces of life from it.

As Odd turned around to grin at Jun, his eyes widened in surprise as he felt something strike his leg; a poison dart that had somehow made it into the crease in his armor right on top of his thigh. Odd had a faint notion of someone shouting at him and a fuzzy gesture from Jun to make a dive back to safety until he felt air underneath him, and then rock and he collapsed, his hand resting unconsciously against the "Xana" sign embedded in the rock.

Meanwhile, on a certain world somewhere in the Digital Sea, an old man opened his eyes from where he sat, looking around at the two circles of warriors surrounding him, all in deep meditation. He slowly stood, walked over to a window and threw the cover off, revealing the room to be at the top of a huge castle, besieged on all sides by Sentinels, each bearing the crest of Xana. The only thing between them and overrunning the castle, it seemed, was a faint blue hue to the air around the fortress. He turned away and picked up his katana from where he had laid it during his meditation; the sheath was inscribed with the same flowing glyphs Odd had read in the cave on Reach.

_ Thirty long years have we succeeded in fending off Xana's forces, and now here I am, the person who condemned Xana to his fate, about to make a decision that no one will agree with…_

Suppressing a wry smile, the man stepped back into the center of the _Dathr Skrela_, the nobler form of Xana's mark which was white instead of black, and banging the bottom of the katana's sheath against the floor, said in a loud voice;

"The Brave, the Strong, the Noble; the People. Together, these rally under the Warrior. He is upon us, and thus puts our fate into question! Rise now and prepare for war, Defenders of Reach!"


End file.
